wavenovel Chapter 157 A Hymn to Mortals in Desperate Circumstances: The Determination to Live in the Face of D
Chapter 157 A Hymn to Mortals in Desperate Circumstances: The Determination to Live in the Face of D
Time flies like an arrow; in the blink of an eye, a week has quietly slipped away amidst the hustle and bustle.
With the lively Lantern Festival over, this long New Year holiday has come to a complete end.
The sound of firecrackers celebrating the Lunar New Year still lingers in the air, carrying a faint smell of gunpowder. But for the vast majority of migrant workers, the harsh reality has already slapped them hard in the face – returning to work and school.
The studio of Chasing Light Pictures has returned to its usual bustling scene, filled with the sounds of keyboards clicking and telephones ringing.
Everyone returned to their respective posts and began another round of intense work in preparation for the upcoming project.
However, in this week of post-holiday syndrome, which was incredibly tiring and gloomy, Friday night became the only hope for countless tokusatsu fans.
That was a ray of hope that illuminated their miserable week of work!
Because tonight at 8 PM, the first season of "Ultraman Dyna" will finally air its 26th episode—the second part of the finale—which has been eagerly awaited for a whole week!
On major video websites, with a full half hour to go before the live stream started, the number of viewers in the black-screen live stream room had already exceeded an astonishing ten million! The barrage of comments was also like a blizzard.
I made it through! Guys, I finally survived this week!
God knows how I've been these past few days! Every time I close my eyes, all I see is Dyna frozen solid!
[You old scoundrel Gu! You better give me a perfect explanation tonight, or I'll be hanging banners outside the Chasing Light Cinema tomorrow!]
[Please start airing soon! How are we going to save Earth? How will Dyna be thawed? Urgent! Urgent! Urgent! Urgent!]
Meanwhile, in an old rented room in another time and space, the live streamer Lao Tang started his broadcast early in the morning.
"Brothers, tonight is absolutely the moment to witness a miracle!"
Old Tang confidently declared into the microphone, "As we analyzed in the last episode, Gu Laozei's move is a classic case of building suspense before attacking. Dyna being frozen is only temporary; the artificial sun is absolutely the key to turning the tide! Tonight, we'll witness the Giant of Light's desperate counterattack!"
The clock finally struck eight o'clock.
The rousing opening theme song, "Ultraman Dyna," started playing right on time, but in this desperate atmosphere, the originally passionate song now sounded with a touch of tragic grandeur.
As the opening theme ended, several heavy characters slowly appeared on the black screen—
Episode 26: The Mobile Fortress Cannot Surface (Part 2)
From the very beginning, without a single wasted word, the film immediately pulls the audience back into that suffocating abyss of despair.
On the icy battlefield of Antarctica, howling winds mingled with heavy snowfall.
In the center of the screen is a huge, lifeless ice sculpture in red, blue, and silver—Ultraman Dyna.
He remained firmly sealed by thick, solid ice, and even the passage of time seemed to stand still within him.
The red light on his chest remained unchanged, as if all the particles that made up Dyna had come to a standstill.
On the opposite side of Dyna, the cosmic sea monster Reijubas continuously spewed out scorching fireballs, bombarding the surrounding glaciers and accelerating the melting of Antarctica.
In the sky, the giant artificial sun "NSP Campanella" is hurtling toward Earth's South Pole at a speed visible to the naked eye, carrying an all-consuming heat!
The narrator's voice was low and subdued: "The alien invading life form, Schum, considers itself the most outstanding life form in the universe. It traveled thousands of miles to Earth, and after destroying the Antarctic seabed base, it quickly seized the Kurak Call system."
"Schume's goal is to guide an artificial sun into impacting Antarctica, causing the glaciers to melt completely! At that point, the entire Earth will be submerged by seawater, becoming the ocean kingdom of the aquatic life form Schume!"
At that moment, the camera switched directly to the terrified faces of people in coastal areas around the world.
This further amplifies the oppressive atmosphere and sense of disaster in the finale.
This massive conspiracy and catastrophic disaster, accompanied by extremely oppressive background music, instantly brought the atmosphere in the live stream to a freezing point.
[This pressure is too intense... Can we really win?]
The Earth is about to turn into a water planet! This villain's ambition is far greater than those monsters that only knew how to trample houses!
[Old Tang, didn't you say the artificial sun was there to save Dyna? It's about to crash down and destroy the world!]
Old Tang swallowed hard, trying to appear calm: "Don't panic! Maybe Tiga will come out even if Dyna is gone!"
Although this was just his guess, there were still quite a few people in the comments agreeing with him.
[666, let's continue to rely on the children's light, shall we?]
[If it can transform with light, isn't that darkness?]
[But if Ultraman Tiga were to appear, wouldn't that steal the show?]
The camera suddenly shifts to the deep sea.
Inside the Victory submarine, which was cramped, dark, and even had its red warning lights flashing due to a power outage.
Kawama, who has always been lively and cheerful at the base and in charge of communications and dispatch, is now curled up in her chair.
She clutched her shoulders tightly with both hands, her body trembling uncontrollably, and large tears rolled down her cheeks.
"I can't take it anymore... I can't take it..."
Mai was on the verge of collapse, her voice trembling with tears.
Having never been on the front lines of combat, she was now trapped near the sunken Kurak Call, facing a powerful enemy outside and the crisis of oxygen deprivation inside. This boundless confinement and despair completely shattered the young girl's psychological defenses.
"It's a dark and cramped place... Even if we leave, the problem isn't solved!"
Mai cried out in despair, trying to open the hatch and escape, trying to flee this suffocating deep-sea hell.
Sitting to the side, Gong Liang looked at his junior who was on the verge of collapse, a hint of heartache flashed in his eyes, but more so, a resolute determination.
She grabbed Mai's hand and forced her to calm down.
"Calm down, Mai!" Ryo's voice was gentle as he continued to comfort the frightened girl.
"Even if we escape now and float to the surface, the problem will still remain unsolved!"
Ryo looked directly into Mai's eyes. "There must be a way. There must have been a way to take back control of the Kurak callsign computer back then! Now, we just have to wait for an opportunity!"
Mai sobbed as she looked into Ryo-senpai's resolute eyes. Although the fear in her heart had not dissipated, her emotions finally stabilized a little.
[I feel so sorry for Mai. After all, she's just a communications officer, and she's encountered such a hellishly difficult dungeon on her first time on the front lines.]
[People really do go crazy in that kind of confined deep sea; Mai's reaction is quite realistic.]
[Senior Liang is so cool! He can still stay rational even at a time like this!]
Meanwhile, inside the Kurak Call, a mobile fortress that sank to the bottom of the sea, the atmosphere was equally tense, even more so than before.
Because it was out of control, the interior of the Kurak call sign was extremely dark.
Dr. Jiang Zhi of the Ocean Development Bureau, who had previously been an arrogant and aloof elite bureaucrat, was now like a frightened mouse, frantically pounding on the locked steel gate.
"Open the door! Let me out! Open the door right now!"
Dr. Jiang Zhi screamed hysterically, desperately trying to pry open the door with both hands, revealing his cowardice and the worst aspects of human nature.
Standing behind him were Zhong Dao and Xing Xingtian.
Zhong Dao walked straight over, locked the door, and looked at him coldly: "I said, Dr. Jiang Zhi, stop wasting your energy. The door is locked, you can't get out, save your oxygen."
Upon learning that the artificial sun would soon reach Antarctica, where temperatures of over 6,000 degrees Celsius would instantly evaporate everything around it, Dr. Jiang Zhi could no longer contain himself.
"Why are you locking me up here?! Why should I die in a place like this?!"
Dr. Jiang Zhi pointed at Zhong Dao's nose and began to curse, "This is all because of that little girl named Mai!"
"If Mai hadn't left Kurak Call without permission, then the life form Schum would never have had a chance to control our system! It's all her fault, that we're facing this despair now!"
Dr. Jiang Zhi frantically tried to shift the blame onto Mai, attempting to cover up his own cowardice and incompetence.
Upon hearing these extremely selfish and shameless words, Koda, who had been restraining his emotions, suddenly felt a surge of anger that rushed straight to the top of his head!
He rushed forward in three strides, grabbed Dr. Jiang Zhi by the collar, and slammed the incessantly talking superior against the cold wall!
Koda's eyes were bloodshot. He hated the incompetence and selfishness of the officer in front of him. The darkness of human nature was exposed in full at this moment!
"What do you think you're doing?! Let me go! I'll definitely report this to your boss when we get back!"
Although Dr. Jiang Zhi was caught, he still threatened her with a show of bravado but a lack of courage.
"I don't care what you want to say to my boss!"
Koda gritted his teeth, each word seemingly squeezed out from between them, "But you need to recognize the situation now! This is not the time to haggle over these things or shirk responsibility! We need to find a way to solve the problem! Find a way to break Schum's control over the Kurak Callmark!"
After saying that, Koda gave Dr. Jiang Zhi a hard shove, throwing him to the ground, his eyes filled with contempt.
Holy crap! Koda's move was so damn cool! I've been annoyed with this old man for ages!
[This Dr. Jiang Zhi is a complete piece of trash, shifting the blame to the young girl risking her life on the front lines while he himself is just clinging to his own life and afraid of dying!]
[The contrast is too stark! Koda is the real man! He's the true leader of the Super GUTS team!]
Viewers in front of the screen were furious with Dr. Jiang Zhi, but this was precisely the emotional build-up the plot needed.
As the camera shifts, the crisis is closing in.
The artificial sun is getting closer and closer to Earth.
The atmosphere was heavy in the command center of TPC's Far East headquarters.
Staff Officer Gondo braced his hands on the table, his face ashen. He stared at the approaching heat source on the screen, gritted his teeth, and made an extremely difficult decision.
"Destroy the artificial sun before it hits Earth!" Staff Officer Gondo shouted the order.
These words caused an uproar in the command room.
That's the artificial sun that all of humanity has poured countless efforts into, representing the core of the "New Frontier Project"!
"But... what a huge loss it would be for humanity's future if it were destroyed! It would make all the hard work and sacrifices of our ancestors go to waste!"
A civilian staff officer covered his face in anguish.
"Now is not the time to talk about these things!"
The militant strategist, Gondo, interrupted him sharply, "To protect the survival of all humanity, we have no choice but to painfully destroy the artificial sun! We must let the enemy know that even without the Super GUTS, TPC can still fight!"
At this critical juncture of life and death, TPC's top management demonstrated a resolute determination to make tough decisions.
Soon, the Crimson Fighter attack squadron dispatched by the TPC South American branch, like a flock of birds with nothing to lose, roared into outer space, ready to carry out a mission to destroy the artificial sun.
"This is the attack formation, target acquired!"
The pilot's resolute voice came through the communicator.
The audience's hearts were in their throats once again.
Must humanity rely on its own strength to resolve this crisis?
However, harsh reality soon poured cold water on everyone.
On the Antarctic ice, Schum, who had been entrenched there, noticed the TPC's movements.
It let out a chilling laugh.
"Go, Rechubas! Defeat those eyesores!"
Schum gave the order.
Upon receiving the command, Reijubas abruptly raised his head, and countless extremely hot fireballs instantly spewed from his enormous mouth!
These flamethrowers, like shooting stars flying in reverse, accurately struck the formation of Crimson Fighter jets in outer space!
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
On the screen, bursts of dazzling fire exploded in the pitch-black universe.
"Sir...the attack formation has disappeared from the radar!" the operator at headquarters reported, trembling.
"You mean...they were all shot down?"
Staff Officer Gondo slumped into his chair, his face ashen.
He was completely dumbfounded.
This is so unscientific! How could those fireballs be launched directly from Antarctica into outer space and accurately capture high-speed fighter jets?
Reijubas is terrifying...
Faced with absolute power, the military might that humanity is so proud of appears utterly vulnerable.
The entire TPC South American squadron of fighter jets exploded, resulting in a brutal "free kill" scenario.
Schumm's mocking voice, tinged with the timbre of a little girl, rang out again, echoing across global communication channels: "If you make any more moves, I'll have an artificial sun move over the city and shine upon it!"
By threatening the lives of high-ranking officials, Schum's cunning and malice were on full display.
The artificial sun is still irresistibly hurtling towards Earth's South Pole.
Is humanity truly out of options? Is the Earth really doomed?
Despair, like a tidal wave, completely overwhelmed the hearts of all the viewers.
[It's over... completely over... how are we supposed to fight this? Ultraman is frozen, the fleet was wiped out, the fortress was captured.]
This is truly the most suffocating episode I've ever seen! There's absolutely no hope in sight!
[You old scoundrel Gu! You have no heart! How did you even come up with this kind of desperate situation?!]
However, amidst this overwhelming gloom of despair, tiny sparks of "courage" quietly ignited in the most inconspicuous corner.
The camera then returns to the Victory submarine on the seabed.
Ryo and Mai are still desperately searching for a way to enter the Kurak Call and regain control.
In the suffocating wait, the seriously injured director let out a painful groan.
Liang turned his head and saw the man carrying a photo of his daughter, the edges of which were yellowed from being soaked in seawater.
In the photo, the little girl Saori is smiling so brightly.
Liang's heart seemed to be deeply moved.
Looking at the photo, she felt the survivor's longing for their family and understood their belief that they had to live on and protect those who mattered to them.
Her gaze gradually hardened with unwavering resolve: "Even at the very last moment, I absolutely cannot give up!"
After carefully searching and examining the structural diagram of the Kurak call sign, Liang's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Found it!"
Liang pointed to an extremely tiny red dot on the screen, "Mai, look here! We can use the peripheral control room in area D7 to retake back the main control computer!"
Mai leaned closer to take a look, then shook her head, her eyes filled with disappointment: "It won't work, Senior Ryo... The passage there has been completely closed due to flooding. Besides, that passage is too narrow; our submarine simply can't get through."
silence.
After a brief silence, Liang had a sudden inspiration. She looked at Mai and said softly but with unwavering determination, "The submarine can't get through... but we can use guided missiles!"
"What do you want?!"
Mai was terrified.
Liang turned his head, his gaze fixed intently on Mai: "Only by using guided missiles can we break through that breach! This means we need to hide you inside the missile's bomb bay, and force our way into the Kurak call sign to reclaim the control system!"
This is an extremely insane, almost suicidal plan!
To stuff a living person into a missile and launch it?
What immense courage that must have taken!
Meanwhile, in the command room of the Kurak call, Jonjima and Koda also made their own decision—a decision to face death.
In order to stop the artificial sun and thwart Schum's plot, they decided to initiate the final procedure.
Zhong Dao's expression was solemn. He slowly took out a small and exquisite key from the brocade pouch he kept close to his body.
Seeing this, Koda, understanding immediately, took out the same key from his pocket without hesitation.
That's the only instruction that doesn't require the host computer to operate—the DF9 instruction!
"Um... what is that?"
Dr. Jiang Zhi, who had been huddled in a corner wiping away tears, suddenly had an extremely ominous premonition when she saw the two keys.
Chung Dao stared at the key in his hand, his voice chillingly calm: "That is destruction... Detonate the Kurak Call!"
"What?!"
Dr. Jiang Zhi stared wide-eyed in horror.
"By detonating this ship, we can physically stop the transmission of induced radio waves! Once the induced radio waves stop, the artificial sun will lose its traction and stop!"
Koda gripped the key tightly, his eyes showing no fear. "This is the only way to give all of humanity a chance to survive."
But this also means that everyone on this warship—including themselves—will perish with it!
In order to protect the lives of all mankind, Koda and Jonjima made this decision with unwavering resolve.
They sacrificed themselves to save everyone's lives; they truly deserve the title of soldiers!
This is a suicidal approach, a last resort...
[My God... self-destruction?! Did it have to be this horrific?!]
[Koda! Jonjima! No! There must be another way!]
[These are true heroes! They sacrificed themselves without hesitation for humanity!]
[Awesome, kudos!]
However, at this tragic moment, Dr. Jiang Zhi's ugly face once again ruined the atmosphere.
Driven by a fear of death, his mind was filled with only one word: "escape." He absolutely did not want to die here!
"No! I don't want to be a sacrifice!"
Dr. Jiang Zhi suddenly rushed to the door like a madman, frantically pounding on it and screaming hysterically, "Open the door for me! Someone help! Someone's trying to blow up this ship! Open the door for me right now!"
His shrill shouts sounded particularly jarring in the empty, silent passageway.
Chungshima and Koda tried to stop him, but it was too late.
"I knew I shouldn't have told you..."
Koda closed his eyes in anguish, whispering, "Asuka...Kariya...forgive us..."
After Dr. Jiang Zhi's outburst, Zhong Dao and Koda's self-destruction plan was immediately discovered by the life form Silmu, who was constantly monitoring them!
"Trying to self-destruct? Not so easy!"
Schum snorted coldly.
In order to remove the key to the destruction program and prevent the explosion, Schuum immediately dispatched a large number of ferocious half-fish warriors, who swarmed towards the command room!
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
A dull thud echoed outside the door, and the sturdy steel door began to deform violently.
Chung-shima and Koda immediately drew their sidearms and desperately blocked the door, preparing for the final bloody battle!
The camera shifts abruptly, returning to the cramped interior of the submarine.
Liang was working diligently on adjusting the missile data.
Just then, she also saw the flashing lights after the Kurak call signal was activated.
She turned her head and looked at Mai, whose face was filled with fear.
"There are only 15 minutes from activation to explosion! We have no time to hesitate, Mai!"
Liang's tone was urgent, "Only if you enter the Kurak Call and break Schum's control over the system will everyone have a chance to survive! Whether it succeeds or not depends on your decision!"
However, Mai, who had never been on the front lines in any real sense and whose psychological defenses were on the verge of collapse, shook her head frantically.
"No! I can't do it!"
Tears welled up in Mai's eyes. "I really can't do it! I'm not as brave as you, Ryo-senpai! I've never been in battle before! I'm scared... I really don't deserve to be a member of the Super GUTS team..."
Two female characters with completely different personalities engage in a fierce argument at this critical moment of life and death.
Listening to Mai's sobs, Ryo did not blame her.
She looked at Mai's trembling hands, which were shaking with fear, and her eyes were filled with tenderness.
She grabbed Mai's hand.
Mai was stunned; she could feel Ryo's hand trembling slightly.
"Is this what you call... the hand of a brave person?"
Here, Gu Nan did not choose to have Liang give him an Ultraman-style personality correction slap, as was done in the original series.
After all, the kind of plot where a slap solves everything is more common in Japanese dramas, so it doesn't feel as good here and has to be adapted accordingly.
Liang's voice trembled slightly as she frankly admitted, "Actually, I'm afraid too... I'm afraid of fighting!"
Mai stared blankly at her senior, Ryo, who had always been regarded as a strong woman.
Tears welled up in Ryo's eyes. In Mai, she seemed to see her former self, who was just as cowardly.
"But I have a belief!"
Ryo gripped Mai's hand tightly and said, word by word, "That is... whatever you do, you must surpass yourself! The best way to eliminate fear is to face it!"
"I……"
Mai was still hesitant, her heart was pounding, and she even felt dizzy and breathless.
Time ticked by, the artificial sun drew near, and the countdown to its self-destruction began to tick.
"dad……"
Just then, the critically injured director, who had been in a coma, suddenly began to hum a song weakly and painfully, driven by his strong desire to see his daughter again, as he teetered on the brink of death.
Let the stars shift and the world change.
I just want to protect your face♪
That was the song Mai sang before, the one that gave strength to countless people.
This faint singing voice, like a bolt of lightning, cleaved through the gloom in Mai's heart.
If fighting really needs a reason, then who do you want to protect?
Protect everyone!
Finally, encouraged by Ryo and listening to the director's song of longing for his daughter, Mai, having no other choice, wiped away her tears and, trembling yet with unwavering resolve, crawled into the narrow, dark missile bay!
Because they really had no other choice!
Ah! Seeing this really moved me; everyone is working so hard!
My heart was pounding the whole time! We have to win!
I'm genuinely cheering them on from the bottom of my heart!
……
On the other side, in the Kurak call sign command room.
"boom!"
The gate was finally blasted open by the merman warriors!
A massive influx of monsters surged in like a tidal wave!
"Fire!"
Koda roared.
Zhongdao and Koda fought desperately, holding onto the control panel with the key inserted. But the number of enemies was simply too great; even the heavy-duty Zhongdao was powerless to resist and was pinned to the ground by several monsters!
"Chungdo!"
Koda shouted anxiously, but he was too busy to do anything about it.
At this critical moment, Dr. Jiang Zhi, who was trembling in the corner, saw that Zhong Dao was about to die at the hands of the monster and suddenly made an unexpected move.
He jumped up, snatched the laser gun that had fallen to the ground, closed his eyes, and shouted as he pulled the trigger!
"Die, monster!!!"
"Bang!"
Although the shot missed, it successfully attracted the monster's attention and shattered his image as a coward!
But this meager resistance was still no match for the overwhelming enemy.
With their ammunition exhausted, the three watched in despair as the merman's sharp claws drew near...
Is it all going to end?
Inside the Kurak Call, death looms; outside the submarine, Mai's missile is about to launch; on the ice field, Dyna remains frozen.